2012 Route Applications

Pogo Lord:  5.12+, new climb, the Slab, Fern Canyon

Description

Establish a new, 100-foot sport climb graded 5.12+ on the center-left side of the West Face of the Slab. The climb will have thirteen total lead bolts, a two-bolt top anchor, and a midway anchor for rope-drag management and that lets climbers do only the 5.11c first pitch if they so choose.

Detailed Description

The climb, Pogo Lord, is on the center-left west face of the Slab, 30 feet right of the start of the Whipping Post/Trad Kreem and 15-20 feet left of the existing climb Pen 15. This pitch, on excellent rock, overhangs severely along its length and has been freed on toprope at 5.12+. Pogo Lord has no opportunities for reliable natural protection along its 30-meter (100-foot) length, and the applicants would like to place thirteen protection bolts as well as two sets of anchors (4 bolts total), one at the top of the wall and one at the midpoint (15 meters). The applicants propose this latter midway anchor, atop the first pitch (5.11c), both to address rope-drag issues for those wishing to break the climb into two pitches as well as to provide a lowering anchor for the first pitch and for an alternate first pitch on the left (to be applied for later) that they have also toproped at mid-5.11.

This midpoint anchor would allow for two new pitches of a more moderate/warm-up grade at the Slab, where to date the range has been almost exclusively 5.12 to 5.13. On the whole, Pogo Lord in its entirety climbs good, solid, featured rock on overhanging dinner plates (5.11d/12a; the first eleven bolts) to a crux encounter (5.12c) on small crimpers at the final two bolts.

 The approach is via a designated but unsigned climber-access trail, the standard approach to the north/west face of the Slab, which leaves the Fern Canyon Trail about a quarter mile up from the Y-junction at the mouth of the canyon. The Slab-access trail heads south through the trees past two large boulders, crosses a talus field, and deposits you at the northwest corner of the formation. This climb is then two minutes up along the west face on a slightly uphill cliffbase climber trail traditionally used to access all the existing west-face climbs. The descent will be via a lower-off from the top of the climb, which deposits you back at the staging area. The staging area at the base of the climb is comprised of compact red soil mixed with scree- and talus-sized rocks. It is flat or gradually inclined, with a series of large boulders embedded 10 feet out from the cliff base (one, flat durable rock surface is convenient for toprope belaying) and some small pine trees here and there well off to the sides. It is contiguous with the staging areas for other west-face climbs including Whipping Post, Trad Kreem, Pen 15, and Super Kreem.

FHRC Overview of the application: Complete

Voting Results: Approved

OSMP Decision: Pending

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Hot if You’re Not: 5.11c, reinstall bolt on existing climb, Der Zerkle, Dinosaur Mountain

Description

Re-install the chopped first bolt on the existing sport climb Hot if You’re Not, a 5.11c on the west face of Der Zerkle, Dinosaur Mountain.

Detailed Description

This is an existing (at present) three-bolt 5.11 face climb on the west face of Der Zerkle. The first bolt was removed by parties unknown some time in the late 1980s or early 1990s, leaving the 11c crux, a fifteen-foot boulder problem beginning off the ground, over a sloping landing with rocks and a retaining-wall timber, completely unprotected. As it stands, the current first bolt is approximately twenty-five feet off the ground.

While the current first bolt can be reached by an unprotected 5.8 traverse from the left along a flake, most climbers will likely be deterred by either of the current options: soloing the boulder problem; or doing the aforementioned 5.8 traverse, clipping the current first bolt, and lowering off to do the direct boulder problem (crux start) on toprope. The route is an existing route that has been led by the applicant with and without the missing first bolt and has been toproped by the applicant and hundreds of other climbers

FHRC Overview of the application: Complete

Voting Results: Approved

OSMP Decision: Pending

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Wing Ding: 5.10, reinstall existing climb, Der Zerkle, Dinosaur Mountain

Description

Re-install the chopped four-bolt sport climb Wing Ding on the west face of Der Zerkle, Dinosaur Mountain, as well as put back in its chopped top anchor.

Detailed Description

This is an existing 5.10 face climb that once had four bolts protecting it as well as a double-bolt top anchor. All four bolts and the two top-anchor bolts were removed at some point in the late 1980s by parties unknown. The climb has remained a toprope problem since then.

It is a fun moderate climb on solid rock, up good huecos, edge, and hornlike features. The route is an existing route that has been led by the applicant when the bolts were in place and toproped by the applicant and hundreds of other climbers.

FHRC Overview of the application: Complete

Voting Results: Approved

OSMP Decision: Pending

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“Bar Gnar” (working title): 5.9+/10-, new climb, Der Zerkle, Dinosaur Mountain

Description

Install a new four-bolt sport climb, with a double-bolt anchor, on the left side of the west face of Der Zerkle, Dinosaur Mountain.

Detailed Description

The proposed climb, “Bar Gnar” (5.9+), parallels the existing route Bar None (5.9) about ten feet to its right, and the existing traditional climb Der Furhrer (5.8) about twelve feet to its left. It is on the upper left (northwest) end of the West Face of Der Zerkle, on Dinosaur Mountain just off the Mallory Cave Trail. The applicant proposes placing four protection bolts, as well as a double-bolt anchor up and over the lip to climber’s right from the existing anchor on Bar None. Having an independent anchor will reduce anchor/lowering/toproping bottlenecks on this section of the wall.

“Bar Gnar” moves up a thin seam at the start to a first clip twelve feet up, after which you encounter a 5.9+ face crux on thin edges. Above this you can place a small TCU (Metolus No. 1 or 0) and or an RP/Stopper in the seam out left to protect a moderate mantel move onto the ledge. Above the ledge, the climb moves up solid, sustained red-brown stone on huecos and crimper edges at 5.9+/10a. It is an aesthetic, solid moderate climb in keeping with the difficulty and quality of the other routes on the wall, which is quite popular with climbers looking for Flatirons routes in the 5.7-to-5.11 range. The route has been toproped by the applicant and several other climbers in his party, as well FHRC representatives. It climbs a nice, clean red-brown face with no loose rock.

Bar Gnar does have some proximity to the existing climbs Bar None (sport) and Der Fuhrer (trad), though it is not a squeeze job; Bar Gnar’s protection bolts should not affect the nature of the trad climb Der Fuhrer, especially if the second bolt, above the ledge, is situated as far left as is reasonable. At its start, Der Fuhrer climbs the huecoed and rippled face right of the small pine tree in the photo below, while Bar Gnar begins well to its left; the only possible proximity is at the roof/bulge above the mid-height ledge. Above the break/ledge, Der Furhrer stays in a trough-like feature right of the upper headwall and then steps right again into a wide crack, while “Bar Gnar” tackles the headwall directly, with the climbing on the two routes becoming farther apart the higher you climb.

The descent will be via a lower-off anchor, directly back to the staging area. The base is the top (northwest) end of the climber-access trail and the standard cliff-base staging area, a durable, semi-flat surface of hardpacked dirt and rock with trees all around.

FHRC Overview of the application: Complete

Voting Results: Approved

OSMP Decision: Pending

PUBLIC COMMENTS: Login and post comments, or send your comments to fhrc@flatironsclimbing.org – be sure to include the name of the route application your comment pertains to.

Choose Life  (5.14-) Seal Rock

The proposed climb, Choose Life, is on the central south face of Seal Rock, which to date has no bolted climbs save an old anchor at the lip of the wall twenty feet right of the proposed climb. Choose Life was redpointed on toprope in 2002, and takes a clean, striking line up an overhanging black streak on one of the steepest parts of the face. It is a 95-foot climb that begins with an arching 5.12a crack-like feature before traversing left (5.12-) into the streak proper; from there, unrelenting 5.13 and 5.13+ climbing follows the streak to the top of the wall. The applicants propose using at most eleven protection bolts, plus an additional two bolts with rings-and-chain at the anchor; a mixture of traditional and bolted protection can be used on the initial thirty feet, after which the climb offers no opportunities for natural gear. Given the sustained nature of the climbing and paucity of clipping stances on the top half, some of the bolts will have to be somewhat widely spaced—more than a body length apart—as a matter of course, though the route will still be absolutely safe.

The south face of Seal Rock is at present home to three other climbs: Jade Gate (5.11b, traditional), Skin Flute (5.12-, toprope/traditional), andPrimate (5.13 toprope/traditional). Jade Gateand Skin Flute are 15 feet apart on the lower wall; Primate sits 100 feet uphill (west) from those; and the start of Choose Life is 30 feet uphill from the start of Primate. There is also an anchor at the lip of the wall between Primate and Choose Life that was installed in the late 1980s before the bolting ban, in anticipation of establishing a sport climb on the face below.

The approach is via the designated but unsigned Harmon Cave Trail, an OSMP Trail that leaves the Mesa Trail near Bear Canyon and heads west to the eponymous cave. From the cave, a designated climber-access path heads south toward Seal Rock, and has traditionally been used to access the east- and north-face climbs. Where this trail hits the northeast toe of the rock, a 100-yard spur trail switches back south along the base of the Seal Pup to a saddle at the bottom of Seal Rock’s south face. From here a gently inclined gully leads up along the south face below the climbs. The staging area at the base of the climb is comprised of compact brown soil mixed with talus-sized rocks. It is flat or gradually inclined, with one large (car-sized) boulder embedded in the gully down and slightly to climber’s right of the start of the route.

The descent will be via a lower-off from the top of the climb, which deposits you back at the staging area.

FHRC Overview of the application: Complete

Voting Results: Approved

OSMP Decision: Approved

PUBLIC COMMENTS: 
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